“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”

-Augustine of Hippo

On Monday, May 6, the Springfield City Council voted to table a strong ordinance on predatory lending. To say we are disappointed with the vote would be an understatement. We are sad, but not surprised. Still, we trust this is a serious effort to move forward and not an end to meaningful reform in Springfield. Thank you to Councilmen Schilling and Hosmer for voting for meaningful reform. To those who are conflicted about the issue, we write:

Clergy in Springfield have been working to reform this predatory industry for nearly a decade. We know the harm. We see it in our pews. We see the damage done in our communities, our schools, our food banks, our shelters. We have documented and shared this information with our City Council, the Missouri state legislature and federal agencies. Payday loan survivors have stood before you and bared their souls, showing you their scars. Tragically, as a recent study clearly indicates (see When Poverty Makes You Sick), many continue to pay with their own lives and bodies, because predatory lenders conspire to trap people forever in debt.

There is strong evidence this ordinance has a successful track record in both Kansas City and St. Louis. It is the logical next step for reform in Springfield.

The tabled ordinance recognizes that predatory lending is not a normal business. Do any other businesses rely on an inability to pay as their business model? Of course not. Our good Springfield businesses answer to a higher standard.

In the only on-record objection from the business community, Megan Short could not bring herself to defend the industry. At the April 22 council meeting, Short said she was not defending payday lenders, stating, “Payday loans are horrible. I don't agree with the practice.” She set a precedent by refusing to defend the industry while refusing to regulate it. We believe that horrible practices should be regulated.

Councilman Schilling’s bill includes a $5,000 annual fee on payday lenders, which could be used to pay for enforcement and to educate borrowers. Some council members fear that this fee will be passed along to the consumer. This is not possible because predatory lenders do not have “consumers.” Their business model works by trapping the borrower in mountains of debt. When borrowers repay a loan four times over, there is no room to pass on an “extra cost.” The lenders are not concerned about the borrower’s ability to repay, but the industry’s ability to collect.

With this vote, the City Council lost an opportunity to recover a small fraction of the millions of dollars predatory lenders extract from our local economy. In St. Louis, the payday lending fee has provided funds for poverty abatement. We could do the same in Springfield. Such fees and regulations are legal and appropriate for municipalities. In St. Louis and Kansas City, they have worked well and have not been challenged in the courts.

We remain committed to working with the city to help stop those who take advantage of people just because they can. We remain committed to working with the city for genuine reform as other states and cities have done. We remain committed to our leaders making decisions based on facts, not slippery slope arguments and false talking points from the predatory lending industry. We remain committed to our friends and neighbors who so desperately need our help. We hope the city hears their cries and pursues meaningful legislation to address the harm of payday lending.